Movie Review Freelance (2023)
Independent , 2023
Directed by Pierre Morel.
With John Cena, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba, Alice Eve, Marten Tsokas, Christian Slater, Julian Arrieta, Molly McCann, Daniel Toro, Sebastian Islava and Roberto Cano.
Synopsis
A former member of the special forces agrees to provide security for a journalist interviewing the dictator, but in the middle of the interview, a military coup forces them to flee into the jungle where they must survive.
This article was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Freelance wouldn't exist without the work of writers and actors on hiatus today.
Who the liberator is is a mystery. Coming from director Pierre Morel, known for his ostensibly light-hearted action revenge movies, the film seems like an attempt to create something more serious on this wheel, rather than a "one-trick pony" so to speak. After Taken revived Liam Neeson's career and launched him into a new chapter, it's easy to understand why the pro-wrestler-turned-actor (who became a pro-wrestler again, since the studios still haven't reached a deal with SAG) took the risk. Signing John Cena. to this project.
However, the score (along with Jakob Lentz's screenplay) not only mixes genres and tones, but it's a confusing and head-scratching mix, with no clear reason or theme to start clicking. . Even if you think the film is an action comedy about a private security guard who protects a journalist in the jungle of a fictional enemy country during a coup, it offers not only dramatic political elements, but also drama. . Political parties The elements It comes for the seemingly eternal political drama. In fact, despite its duration of 105 minutes, the film is endless.
John Cena is Mason Petit, a former United States Army soldier who now works as a lawyer and gives his young daughter questionable advice about unwanted kisses (throat and genital punches). Of course, there's trouble at school and his wife (Alice Eve) is mad at him. He tells her to go, which prompts him to work in private security despite a broken back, but here's the best part: he's mad at his wife for leaving him. You can imagine how sad the political drama is because national controversies are meaningless.
That's not the point, but I can't help but mention the disturbing scenes in the movie where I knew something terrible was going to happen. John Cena is a talented and funny action star, but you wouldn't know it under the direction of Pierre Morel. If he has no idea what this movie is about, that doesn't leave much room for John Cena to figure it out and deliver a performance that matches the tone. Everyone in this movie is fighting, not necessarily pushing each other away, laughing or trying to find chemistry between them. This is a no, especially given the rightness of the action; A freelancer constantly makes it seem like everything is happening in slow motion, even when it's not.
Anyway, Mason is hired by his friend and entrepreneur (Christian Slater) to protect disgraced journalist Claire Wellington (Alison Bray) when she is interviewed by the fictional country's dictator Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba). the helicopter He brought his team and destroyed the deck. It's a dangerous region, and the people don't like the president, because there's a constant rebellion between other groups of mercenaries trying to kill him.
Freelance tries to use humor to show that Juan Venegas is a good guy who cares about people and that even though the guard can't see it yet, he's not responsible for what happened to Mason and his crew. Ironically, at one point his attempt to turn it into a rom-com with Claire ran into a distant Mason. The problem is that the actors have no chemistry with each other, so the plot developments seem random, awkward and unnecessary. There is no element or dynamic that makes this movie work, except for the endless tagline, blurring the lines with every scene and tonal change.
Shining Legend Level - Movie: ★ / Movie: ★
Robert Codder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the editor of Flickering Myth Reviews. For the latest reviews, check here, follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd, or email MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
